Cocoa beans are processed in large volumes into a wide variety of chocolate-related products. For example, cocoa beans can be initially processed into cocoa nibs and then into cocoa liquor, which then is further processed to separate the liquor into its cocoa butter and cocoa powder constituents. To separate cocoa butter from cocoa powder, conventional mechanical pressing of the cocoa liquor is typically used. The initial result of mechanical pressing is a press cake of cocoa solids which retains residual cocoa butter. This press cake can be cooled, milled, and classified into the cocoa powder, which still contains residual cocoa butter. The amount of residual cocoa butter can be, for example, about 10–12 wt. % (so called “10/12 cocoa powder”).
Cocoa powder can be used in many products. One major use, for example, is in beverages including drinking chocolate, chocolate-flavored milk, and instant drinks from vending machines and other sources. In these applications, ideally the powder should instantly disperse when mixed with a cold aqueous medium such as milk. However, cocoa powder is not easily wetted which can impede dispersion and result in lumping. The difficulty is exacerbated if the powder contains fat, such as residual cocoa butter, or if the dispersion is to take place in a cold liquid.
In the past, lecithination has been used to address this dispersibility problem. In this approach, cocoa powders have been further processed to include a dispersing agent such as lecithin, the dispersing agent acting as a surface active agent to reduce surface tension between the powder and the water-based liquid. Lecithin can be added at a level of about 5 wt. %. Government regulation may limit the amount of lecithin which can be added. Current lecithination technology, however, suffers from at least four disadvantages including:
(1) increased cost. Depending on cocoa powder prices, lecithin represents a considerable ingredient cost, particularly where customers demand GMO-free soya lecithin.
(2) inefficient delivery of the lecithin. Because current procedures for lecithination can be relatively inefficient, depending on a number of factors, high levels of lecithin are incorporated to achieve the dispersion behavior required of the cocoa powder. In addition to increasing cost, high levels of lecithin also can impart off-flavors, requiring the formulator to use more refined (and hence more expensive) versions.
(3) increased total fat. Lecithin is a fatty substance which becomes part of the total fat as reported in NLEA labeling requirements. Therefore, a 10/12 cocoa powder containing 5 wt. % lecithin will in fact display considerably higher values for total fat content and calories from fat per serving.
(4) issues concerning shelf life arise.
Hence, improved lecithination procedures are needed. Moreover, lecithination needs to be adapted to new procedures for production of cocoa powder. For example, liquefied gas extraction has been recently reported as an alternative to mechanical pressing to separate cocoa liquor into its cocoa butter and cocoa powder constituents as disclosed in, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos., 6,066,350 and 6,361,814. In a preferred embodiment of this process, cocoa liquor is mixed with liquefied, pressurized butane to form a slurry, and the slurry is subjected to separation on, for example, a belt filter. The belt filter retains wet cocoa solids as solvent passes through the belt filter extracting cocoa butter. The remaining wet cocoa solids, which usually retain some cocoa butter and forms a cocoa mass, are processed into cocoa powder by, among other things, breaking up any clumped particles and removing solvent (desolventization).